Succumb
by Astroavis
Summary: Sakura had always known that Sasuke was going to be her alpha. Or at least she had thought. When Sasuke's rejection of her leaves her heartbroken, Sakura dedicates her life to becoming a medical ninja and shoves aside any lingering hope that she would one day find her mate. Until a chance encounter changes her and her life forever. A/O/B dynamics
1. Heartbreak

Sakura knew from a very young age that she was an omega. She may have been a late bloomer in many things: her self-confidence, her purpose, even her ninja skills, but one thing that she had known since she was ten years old (ridiculously young by most standards) was that she was an omega.

She could remember the day before she displayed as readily as she could remember the first time she had successfully used a henge jutsu.

She had felt itchy and feverish since the moment she had crawled out of bed. Her breathing had been labored, as if she had just ran a significant distance, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. She distinctly remembered wondering when she had gotten sick.

Her mother, the observant woman she was, had told her to stay home from class and to try to get comfortable. The first part had been easy but the second had been incredibly difficult. It had been impossible to get anywhere near comfortable when Sakura felt like she was going to crawl out of her own skin at any moment.

The day was spent in a daze, mindlessly wandering her home and feeling strangely undefined. Like a dream where a person knows where they are, or at least where they're supposed to be, but everything is hazy and indistinct. She had finally gotten to sleep sometime late that night, tangled in a mess of too many yet too few blankets, and when she had awoken, she felt… Different. As if she actually had shed her skin in her sleep and had woken that morning in a fresh body.

Sakura was also unbelievably exhausted and had soaked her blankets in sweat.

Her mother had taken one sniff of her daughter that morning and had proudly declared, "An omega. Just like your mom."

Which had been followed by a lesson on mate dynamics and what to expect when she met her alpha, which had Sakura turning seven shades of red.

The second thing that Sakura had known was that Sasuke was going to be her alpha. He hadn't displayed yet, but she knew the he was going to be her mate like she knew that the sky was blue and that water was wet. She could smell it like one can smell the lingering scent of perfume after someone had already left the room. It stuck to the back of her throat like the sweetness from a candy and left her feeling giddy in his presence.

Or at least she had thought he was going to be her mate.

She had waited on bated breath for Sasuke to finally display for years. She had been ecstatic when she was assigned to his team (much less excited when Naruto, who hadn't displayed yet either and assumed Sakura was going to be his mate, was assigned to her team as well). She could almost tell when the lone Uchiha was going to display, her sense of smell feeling as sharp as any Inuzuka's, and impatiently waited for the day.

Sasuke seemed to hate her guts, taking every opportunity he could to call her annoying or weak, but she knew that his tone would change soon.

They had been travelling back to Konoha from the Land of Waves after succeeding in their mission to protect the bridge builder Tazuna and the newly dubbed Great Naruto Bridge. Sasuke had fully recovered from his injuries at the hand of Zabuza's partner, Haku, but he still appeared to be struggling against some ailment.

The Uchiha had been far more agitated than usual, electing to snap at whoever he deemed was bothering him rather than his usual route of simply ignoring them. He scratched at his skin almost constantly and breathed heavily, as if winded, for the entire day. Kakashi had made them take frequent stops, under the guise of keeping their strength up, even though both him and Sakura knew the real reason behind it.

When Naruto had curiously, and a bit jadedly, asked why Kakashi had sarcastically congratulated the young Uchiha, Sasuke had told him to shut up and mind his own damn business.

The morning after they had reached Konoha, Sakura woke up at the brink of dawn to take a long, fragrant shower and to put on her best dress. She wanted both her and Sasuke to remember the moment they realized they were mates for the rest of their lives. Nevermind they were at the tender age of fourteen, not quite within the acceptable range for such activities, even being ninja.

Sakura had fawned over numerous (heavily censured, she would later learn) novels about alphas and omegas coming together for the first time and she could only hope that the beginning of their relationship would be just as romantic as her books. Either way, she had planned out this moment for the last three years, fantasizing over the topic constantly. It would be perfect.

An hour before the time team 7 would generally meet at their training field, Sakura had travelled to Sasuke's house with a skip in her step. She certainly couldn't have them having their first kiss in front of Naruto and Kakashi. Gross.

As always, she got an eerie feeling entering the constantly opened gates into the former Uchiha district. She rarely set foot in this place, perhaps only having entered the walled off, empty community twice in all her years. Each time she had, however, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The place was far too quiet in comparison to the rest of the village, the silence nearly deafening in its intensity. While Sasuke was certainly the richest member of the village in regards to real estate, him having inherited the dozens of abandoned homes after some tragic happening, he was also the most lonely.

Sakura ignored the prickling sensation of being watched as she approached the front door to the house she knew Sasuke lived in. She knocked on the chipping door politely, avoiding the peeling paint, and patiently waited for the object of her affection to open the door.

After a few dozen agonizingly long moments, the door creaked open to reveal a half-dressed, bleary eyed Sasuke who appeared to just have rolled out of bed. When she caught a whiff of his new, alpha scent, she blushed deeply. His scent was nearly overwhelming in it's intensity, leaving her feeling weak in the knees. She wanted to jump into his arms that very moment, but instead, she waited.

Sasuke just stared with an expression that teetered between frustration and exhaustion. He obviously looked worn out, not just from the journey back from the Land of Waves but from his transitioning into an alpha.

"Well, what do you want?" He hissed, rubbing his bloodshot eyes with one hand as he leaned heavily on his door frame.

Sakura's heart sank. All of her books said that once an alpha and omega who were compatible caught each other's scents that they would be inseparable. That the reaction was immediate and incredible. She felt as if she was going to drop to her knees in the wake of his scent, but he didn't seem to care at all about hers.

"W-what… I-I..." She stuttered, eyes wide.

He didn't feel it?

Sasuke continued to stare at her in exacerbation, waiting impatiently for her to speak. If anything, he seemed more aggravated by her mere presence than ever before.

"I… Uh… You don't…?" Sakura choked out, trying to collect her scattered thoughts enough to form a coherent sentence.

"Just tell Naruto and Kakashi-sensei that I'm not going to practice today. I'm staying here," he interrupted as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

She would have noticed how he hadn't used the word 'home' to describe where he lived if she hadn't been so confused.

"But, I-" Sakura started, earning another exhausted glare from the object of her affection.

"But what? _What do you want_?"

Her jumbled thoughts finally coming together to form the most important question she had: "You don't feel it?"

"Of course I feel it. I feel like trash. Thanks for reminding me," he grumbled wearily as he moved to close the door.

Sakura jolted forward to try to stop him from closing the door and when she did, Sasuke wrinkled his nose as if catching the scent of something putrid. She had wanted to clarify what she had meant by her question, but his grimace as he obviously smelled her made her words burn away in her throat.

He simply glared at her once again, obviously frustrated by her actions and lack of response.

"Gods, you're so annoying. Go away," he insulted before slamming the door in her face.

Sakura stood on his door step for the longest minute of her life, staring at the closed door before her with a bleak expression.

She was… Wrong?

There was no way she had been wrong! She had known Sasuke was going to be her alpha for years now! He had to have just smelled her wrong or something. Maybe the soaps she had cleaned herself with that morning had covered up her scent?

 _'You're so annoying.'_

No matter what excuses Sakura made to herself, the bitter taste of rejection and something else on the back of her tongue didn't lie. She turned around and headed back home.

Neither her nor Sasuke showed up for practice that day.

* * *

Sakura had been crushed for months. She had been positive that Sasuke was going to be her alpha. She could feel it in her bones. Even now with him finally presenting, he was just as cruel (if not more) than usual. Nothing had changed for him even though she was now hyper aware of his every move.

She was so painfully aware of everything he did. His scent nearly overwhelmed her every time she caught it. When she happened to be in one of her heats in his presence, she felt shaky and near euphoric every time she smelled him. Even with her obvious physical reactions to him, he felt nothing. Even worse, every time he smelled her, he would scowl as if her scent disgusted him.

Sakura took nearly every opportunity she could to jump start their 'moment'. As if there had been a mistake and he just hadn't noticed her yet. As if there was a certain number of steps that needed to be achieved first.

She completely ignored the books on mates that her well-meaning mother had given her when Sakura had presented. All of the romantic novels she had read in private, pilfered from the other girls (namely Ino, who still insisted that she was going to present as an omega any day now) in the academy who had been just as obsessed with mates as her. They all had to be wrong.

She furiously researched instances in which an omega or an alpha were affected by another's scent but the other didn't reciprocate. The only thing she had turned up was some nonsense on alphas and omegas sometimes getting a false-positive on a non-mate because the non-mate was in close blood relation to their true mate. Obviously this didn't apply to her.

Even if it did, fat chance of her ever meeting her mate, considering Sasuke was the only Uchiha left. She couldn't accept that Sasuke wasn't her mate, let alone that she would be alone for the rest of her life.

No matter what she did or what Sakura tried, however, Sasuke always had the same response: _you're annoying_.

When the kunoichi took care of Sasuke and Naruto in the forest of death after Orochimaru had attacked them, Sasuke hadn't cared. When she had hugged him and pleaded with him to not kill Zaku (even though he had given her the worst beating of her life up until that point), he hadn't noticed. When she had woken up after being knocked unconscious by Ino in the preliminary matches of their first chuunin exams, it was Kakashi who checked to see if she was okay.

Even when she had caught Sasuke defecting from the village and had poured her heart out to him, he had been unphased. She had professed her love for him, begged him to see reason. She even offered to come with him on his journey when that failed because she didn't just know he was her mate but that she loved him.

Sasuke had just uttered the same phrase that broke her heart every time: _You're annoying_. This time, he paired it with a merciless blow to the back of her head that knocked her unconscious.

When Sakura woke up on that bench hours later, the sun already perched high in the sky, she finally realized what a fool she had been. How wrong she had been for so long and how badly she had tried to trick herself. Her mate would never attack her, it was just something they didn't do. True mates couldn't hurt each other even if they wanted to. It was impossible.

She sobbed on the bench for what felt like hours, overcome by shame and despair.

* * *

For the next few months, Sakura drifted without purpose. Sasuke had not only been the boy she thought would be her mate but he was her teammate. She hadn't realized how important he had been for keeping her team together, for keeping her life stable, until he was already gone.

When Naruto left the village with that perverted, cheapskate sannin, she had been without an anchor. No one would hire a painfully inexperienced genin for solo missions and the missions in which she was included as an add on to another team were few and far between.

She was severely lacking in all aspects of being a ninja except for her quick thinking and intelligence. When Shikamaru was available though, a freshly made chunin, a brilliant strategist, and a ninja skilled in both taijutsu and ninjutsu, she was never asked for specifically and rarely chosen for missions at all.

Not only that, but Kakashi had been reassigned to numerous missions requiring a skilled jonin (he was a legend after all). She was without teammates, she was without a sensei, and not only that, but Kakashi hadn't even bothered to make accommodations for her. He just stopped coming to their training sessions.

Sakura had sat alone at the training field for six hours once, waiting for Kakashi to show up for their old team's usual training sessions. It had been Team Asuma who had arrived to tell her they had rented out the field for the afternoon and that Kakashi wasn't coming. At least Ino had kept her fat mouth shut in the face of Sakura's humiliation.

She had been officially left in the lurch by every person who she had held close. Even her parents had been of little help, considering they were both sought after jonin and were frequently away on missions of their own.

After a few months of no missions, no one to train with, and sitting with the feeling of what little muscle her body had built wasting away, she decided to make potentially the most humiliating or life-changing decision of her life.

Sakura was going to ask Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, one of the legendary sannin, and the most skilled medical ninja in the world, to be her mentor.

When she had finally gathered up the courage to stand before the alpha woman's desk and ask her to be her mentor, Sakura felt like her heart was going to stop beating in her chest from racing so fast. She could feel her hands shaking but desperately tried to hide it, lest the intimidating sannin see her weakness and reject her on the spot.

The legendary woman had never said yes outright. Even years later, Sakura had never gotten a definite answer. Instead, the blonde had given Sakura a staggering list of poisons, descriptions on how they affected an afflicted individual, and a corresponding list of antidotes (some of which could work on multiple poisons) and told her she had a week to memorize it all.

Sakura's jaw nearly dropped but she had agreed immediately. If this is what it took to find her purpose then so be it.

She had memorized the list flawlessly and even impressed Tsunade by telling her the main ingredients used to make every poison on the list.

Sometimes Sakura regretting her decision to try to impress her would-be sensei because right after the woman had nodded approvingly, she had fished a thick scroll on the circulatory system out of one of the numerous shelves in her office and told her she had a week to memorize it.

Apparently Sakura hadn't learned her lesson the first time because the next time she strolled into Tsunade's office, she not only answered every one of the sannin's questions on the circulatory system perfectly but answered every trick question about the lymphatic system that Tsunade had included as well.

From that point on, Sakura dedicated her life to becoming not only a medical ninja, but the kind of ninja who could not only heal but could protect. She wanted to be a kunoichi like her mentor. A ninja who was as at home on the battlefield as they were in the hospital. She refused to be left in the dust by those around her ever again.

She would not only stand on her own two feet but she would help others do so as well.

Sakura shoved any thoughts and fantasies about her possible future mate to the back of her mind, making way for medical ninjutsu and endless training.

After all, if Sasuke wasn't her mate, then no one was.


	2. Discovery

_Three years later..._

Itachi and the other members of the Akatsuki had already begun the three day extraction ritual that was required to remove the One Tail from the jinchuuriki Gaara.

Even though Itachi had already assisted in the sealing of two tailed beasts and had grown used to the draining, three day process, it was still a struggle to ignore the howls of agony from the human hosts. He had never and would never enjoy the senseless death of innocent people, especially the jinchuuriki who had done nothing to earn such agonizing ends besides being unlucky enough to have a tailed beast sealed within them.

Not only did it grate at him as a pacifist, but it reminded him far too much of _that_ night.

The humanoid statue whose fingertip he stood upon was still as eerie and otherworldly as it had been the day Pain had first summoned it to seal the five-tailed bijuu. Thoughts of that sealing and the one that immediately followed it still made the Uchiha feel sick.

The five-tailed jinchuriki, Han, and even the seven-tailed jinchuuriki, Fuu, had been turned over to the Akatsuki willingly by their villages, all for the weightless promise of an alliance in the days to come. Somehow the betrayal they suffered had been more distasteful to him than the abduction of the Kazekage.

At least Gaara would die knowing the respect and admiration of his people. An incrementally better fate than greeting death knowing he had been completely abandoned, like Han and Fuu had.

Itachi just hoped that the young jinchuriki would find peace once the one tailed beast was forcefully removed from his body.

After years of being involved in tasks far more horrifying than this, Itachi was easily able to keep a straight face as the young man screamed and groaned in agony. His mind, on the other hand, was far more turbulent.

Sasori and Deidara had been convinced that there was no way that they had been followed but, just a day into the ritual, Zetsu informed the group that Konoha shinobi were advancing on their location. An interesting development, surely, especially considering the brief battle, orchestrated by Orochimaru, between the two nations during the chunin exams three years prior.

Pain chose Itachi and his partner Kisame to stall the two teams in order for their group to complete the extraction. Sasori had been... persuaded to provide a couple of his spies for just such an occasion by Pain, despite the puppet master's obvious displeasure. Itachi found that using the corpse of one of the former Sand ninja's spies to create a more powerful clone of himself was repulsive. He was able to comfort himself with the fact that, at the very least, utilizing this jutsu would kill two of the puppet master's pawns.

The feeling of his consciousness being split between three places was an unusual sensation that the Uchiha had never experienced.

He could feel the sun on his skin in his actual body, he could hear the tormented noises of the jinchuuriki from his astral projection, and he could see the trees flying passed him as he shot through the forest towards one of the teams of Konoha shinobi using his borrowed body.

An odd collection of sensations indeed.

Luckily, his true body needed little attention at the moment and his astral projection in the cave only required his chakra be drained. He would be able to focus his attention on the coming battle. To use his skills to teeter the line between succeeding in his task and not causing any deaths.

Hopefully the ninja facing Kisame were skilled enough to prevent fatalities as Itachi knew that the shark-nin was not so inclined to hold back.

When the Uchiha first met the team of invading Konoha shinobi, he was surprised to find the copy ninja Kakashi Hatake, the nine-tails jinchuuriki Naruto, his own brother's old kunoichi teammate Sakura, and the Suna legend Chiyo all facing against him. A bold move, sending a jinchuuriki to battle the Akatsuki. The blond must have improved greatly from the last time he saw him for the Hokage to risk such a decision.

"Kakashi. Naruto. It's been a while," Itachi greeted smoothly, blocking their path.

There was a heavy silence between them, weighted down by memories of Itachi's past deeds for the Akatsuki and otherwise. Both Sakura and Naruto looked him directly in the eyes. The pink haired woman appeared to have a moment of recognition as she stared into his sharingan. A fatal mistake, had Itachi actually planned on putting an end to the group of shinobi.

"I wasn't enough for you, huh? You had to go after Gaara as well," Naruto piped up, filling the silence with his palpable rage, "I'll destroy every last one of you!"

"Everyone! Whatever you do, don't look him in the eyes! Itachi's genjutsu is a visual jutsu, which means avoid eye contact with him and his jutsu can't take effect," Kakashi informed his group curtly.

"Yeah, that I know," Naruto growled in response, his gaze quickly dropping down to Itachi's shoulders.

"Okay, but then how are we supposed to fight him?" Sakura questioned seriously, trying to keep her voice below Itachi's hearing range.

"That's the tricky part. You have to anticipate his moves by watching his feet, his body."

Sakura's hands formed fists as she avoided Itachi's eyes, searching for a place on his body to focus her eyes to avoid his gaze. She scowled deeply as her eyes settled onto his chest.

"But that's like fighting with one hand tied behind your back…" she hissed.

"The Uchiha clan, eh? It's been a long time since I've gone up against the sharingan," the old Suna woman spoke up with a chuckle, her eyes already trained onto Itachi's waist.

Obviously this woman had fought a few Uchiha's in her life.

When Naruto gave her a startled glance, the woman shot him a haughty smirk. "Don't look so surprised. I've been around and I know there's more than one way to fight a visual jutsu like that."

"Yeah, like what then?" the blond muttered under his breath, his eyes glancing from her to Itachi.

"If one against one, abandon the field. If two against one, take the rear, and he'll yield," Chiyo rhymed.

The old woman went on to clarify her already simplistic words to the other shinobi on their team. Fairly decent advice when facing a regular sharingan user, as she more than likely had during the past shinobi wars. Little did she know such a plan would have little use when fighting a foe such as himself.

"Let's go. I'll take the rear," Naruto piped up, already taking a step forward. It was Kakashi who shot out an arm, impeding his path.

"Naruto, wait."

"Do you have a problem with my way of fighting the sharingan? Are you suggesting my methods won't work?" Chiyo questioned with a glare, obviously miffed by the Copy Ninja's lack of action.

"No, they work fine against ordinary genjutsu, but what we're dealing with here is something much more complicated…"

That was one way of putting it.

"He uses mangekyo sharingan. It's far more powerful than any other visual jutsu. It only takes a second, but if he hits you with that jutsu, it'll be the longest second you've ever lived. Time itself gets warped. What seems like a second in the real world can be hours or days to someone trapped in that jutsu. I know. I wandered around in it for three days and lost consciousness for more than a week. It's not a genjutsu that can be broken just like that…"

Itachi maintained a straight face as he listened to Kakashi's description of his experience in his Tsukuyomi. He certainly hadn't enjoyed spending those three days torturing his old comrade, but refused to show it nonetheless.

"Very good, Kakashi. I see your sojourn in my Tsukuyomi wasn't wasted," he commented, quietly pleased that he hadn't spent three days torturing the copy ninja for no reason.

Itachi hadn't been excited to meet the silver haired male on the battlefield during his infiltration of Konoha, but at least the man hadn't died as a result of his jutsu.

"Oh, believe me, I learned something else as well. There's a price to pay for using that Sharingan. It exhausted you, didn't it? You had to quit before the battle was over. So, in addition to using up a lot of chakra, you risk permanent damage to your eye every time you use that jutsu. Don't you, Itachi?" The copy ninja taunted, surprising Itachi with the amount of knowledge he had gleaned during their short fight.

"You seem to have learned a great deal from our one brief encounter."

"I wonder…" Kakashi continued as he pulled his headband away from his transplanted sharingan, "...just how much damage has already been done to your eyesight."

The Uchiha's eyes widened as he stared at Kakashi. Had the Konoha ninja truly discovered how far his eyesight had deteriorated over the years after the overuse of his mangekyo sharingan? That Itachi had to use his lowest level sharingan constantly just to see their murky shadows?

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment to reign in his escalating thoughts. Of course Kakashi hadn't. And even if he had, that knowledge would do him no good during this fight.

"I underestimated you back then. I admit it. But I am not the fool I used to be. Things aren't gonna go the same way this time. I promise you that," the silver haired jonin continued, glaring daggers.

"Yeah, and don't go thinking I'm the same kid either! A lot of things have changed since then!" Naruto piped up suddenly, Kakashi's speech apparently giving him a boost of confidence. As if Itachi's deteriorating eyesight gave them the upper hand.

"Naruto. Leave him to me."

"Huh? Not again. Not that kind of teamwork where we sit back and do nothing!"

"No. This time you cover me. I wish I could say you guys go on ahead, I can handle this alone. But I never make the same mistake twice." Kakashi reared back in preparation for a charge.

Naruto grinned widely, his eyes shooting back to Itachi and reflecting a challenge.

Enough talk then. They had delayed themselves enough with their speeches and plotting, possibly enough of a delay to give the rest of the Akatsuki the time they needed to finish the extraction. Now it was his turn.

"It's time you came with me, Naruto," Itachi called out threateningly as he felt the breeze shift to blow towards him. Raising a finger, he pointed at the blond, seamlessly casting a genjutsu over him.

As the Uchiha's chakra penetrated Naruto's mind, his jutsu settling over the jinchuuriki's thoughts and taking over his sensations without skipping a beat, the blond's face dropped.

It was a heartbeat afterwards that the ebony haired man became aware of the smells of the Konoha shinobi, the shifting breeze finally bringing their scents to him.

He immediately caught the scent of Kakashi, an alpha like himself. Nothing surprising. Itachi had known the man's alignment since they met in ANBU.

It appeared as if both Chiyo and Naruto were betas, or at least the young boy had yet to mature. He sincerely doubted that the ancient woman was going to display any time soon.

When he caught the strangely sweet and distinctly omega scent of the young woman, however, his mind went blank.

Itachi had just enough time to shoot a startled look at Sakura across the field, her own eyes widening as she received the full brunt of his focus, before the world went black momentarily as he lost control of his chakra.

Naruto snapped out of Itachi's genjutsu immediately just as the blond attempted to form a rasengan in his palm, intent on fighting whatever he had seen in his jutsu.

Itachi lost his tether on the advanced clone he had been using, the henge of himself dispelling from the used corpse as it toppled to the ground lifelessly. Even his astral projection disappeared from the cave the Akatsuki were holding the extraction ritual, startling the group within with the sudden extra burden to their chakras.

When Itachi's consciousness slammed back into his true body, his eyes shot open, his sharingan already activated. He gasped for air loudly, filling his lungs like a drowning man who finally breached the surface of the water. He stared out at the flowing, grassy plains before him with wide eyes as he desperately drew air into his burning lungs. One single line of thought dominated his mind and willed him to run...

It was _her_. That woman, Sakura. She was the one. She was his mate, his omega. The woman he was meant for.

His heart pounded in his chest and he unsuccessfully tried to control his rapid breathing. He had never felt an emotion as intensely as he felt this immediate draw to her. Even when he had killed his own parents, the intensity he had felt then was nothing in comparison to the overwhelming need he felt at that moment. All other things seemed so incredibly unimportant in the face of this near uncontrollable desire to go to this woman.

Itachi didn't just want to be with her. He needed to. He needed to run to her, to bury his face in her neck, to wrap his arms around her, to hear her say his name, to taste her skin, to be inside of her. He needed everything about her immediately and the intensity of that need startled him to his core.

Every fiber of his being screamed at him to go now. It was her. His mate, his omega. They had been made for one another and it was his duty, as her alpha, to go to her. To be with her, to protect her, to fill her.

It took every ounce of willpower he thought he had just to stay seated and to not sprint off through the meadows and into the forest where he knew she was, consequences be damned.

"What's wrong with you, Itachi?" Kisame demanded gruffly from his spot seated next to him.

"It's… nothing…" the Uchiha choked out, grateful that his voice didn't betray the maelstrom within him.

"It's not nothing, I've never seen you just abandon a jutsu like that. Whatever it is, get it together. The drain from you being gone is wearing us out and I'm still fighting these Konoha brats. If you don't, Leader is going to have our heads," his partner bit out with a scowl before his face became tranquil once again as his focus returned to the sealing and his own battle.

Itachi was grateful the blue skinned man had only focused on his real body enough to speak to him and not enough to smell him. He was sure that he was putting off an insane amount of pheromones right now in his state and there was no way he could explain what was happening to him at this moment without revealing the truth.

The Uchiha kept trying to catch his breath but found that he couldn't. His heart was pounding so hard that he could hear his own blood rushing in his ears. Every muscle in his body was tense, begging him to use them to seek her out. The only thing he could compare this sensation with was the surge of adrenaline he got when facing an especially powerful foe, and that didn't even touch the surface of what he was experiencing.

Beneath the sudden onslaught of need, he was horrified that his omega, the person he thought (and hoped) he would never find, was his younger brother's ex-teammate. A woman four years his junior and a loyal Konoha shinobi.

Why couldn't fate simply allow him to continue with his plans without this kind of interference? Why did the gods choose to torment him so, even now?

The only thing that allowed him to make the hand sign he needed to return to the sealing ritual was the thought that once this was done, he would find her. He tried to convince himself it was a lie to trick his alpha side but he was uncertain of his own comittment. He just prayed that this need would abate by the time he emerged from the sealing.

Itachi formed the hand seal with trembling hands and was barely able to focus enough chakra to return to the extraction. He could tell that the others sensed his struggle in the way his chakra was unsteady and irregular, but none of them commented as they focused on the sealing of the one tailed beast. He could feel Leader's ringed eyes on him for a long moment, focusing on his shaky form, but the mysterious man thankfully did not comment.

The ebony haired man had thought the screams of the jinchuuriki were disarming, but as he struggled to maintain this jutsu when every fiber of his being demanded he search for his omega, the young man's screams no longer phased him.

* * *

Sakura, and the rest of her group, stared across the battlefield at the body lying prone on the ground, baffled. The fight had just began. Naruto had obviously fallen prey to the genjutsu master's technique (cast with just a finger!), but just as the wind had shifted, the Uchiha had stared directly at her before collapsing to the ground.

The look on his face…

The genjutsu Naruto had been subjected to dissipated and the loud blond had gone off on a tangent before noticing the corpse in the distance and becoming silent.

They approached the body cautiously, concerned that it was a trap. Sakura even tried to dispel a possible genjutsu over her to find that there was none.

"What… happened?" She queried softly as they inched towards the unmoving body in front of them.

No one answered, just as startled and confused as she was. They gathered around the corpse in a loose circle, all of them still tense in preparation for a trap.

"Wh-what on earth…" Chiyo whispered aloud as they stared down at the body at their feet, recognition clear on her face.

"I could feel something was off…" Kakashi commented darkly as he too stared down at the corpse.

Naruto, still reeling from the after effects genjutsu, muttered, "I don't get it… What the hell just happened?"

"It has to be some kind of jutsu." Sakura gulped, the face that Itachi had made before disappearing still haunting her thoughts.

"But that man…" the Suna elder started as her eyebrows furrowed.

Kakashi turned to face her. "Lady Chiyo. Do you know who this person is?"

"I do. His name is Yura, and he's a jonin from our own village…"

As the group spoke in hushed tones, contemplating what had happened, Sakura felt a ball of dread build up in her chest.

Why had Itachi looked at her like that? He hadn't even paid her any attention during the beginning of the fight, but he dispelled the jutsu right after looking directly at her… And his expression… No one had ever looked at her in such a way. She couldn't even find the words to describe what she had seen in his face.

As Sakura wracked her mind for a solution (Had their backup already reached the Akatsuki hideout?), a niggling sensation prodded at her thoughts. She felt like she had the answer to her questions, but couldn't quite reach it. She felt like there was something she should remember, something important that could have explained this event, but she couldn't recall what it could be.

The look that Kakashi shot her as he appeared to be deep in thought made her pause.

Their sensei had looked away from her and back to the prone body before she could ask him what that was about, so she kept her questions to herself. She had no answers for any questions he might have had either way.

She stared down at the corpse of the dark haired man at their feet, wrapped in an Akatsuki cloak, and desperately tried to recall what her instincts were howling at her to remember.

Even as they flew through the trees in search for the Akatsuki hideout, even as they met up with Team Gai, even as they prepared to enter the base, even as she fought for her life against Sasori, and even as she watched as Chiyo sacrificed her life to save Gaara's, her mind screamed at her the remember.

 _What was it?_


	3. Succumb

The couple of weeks after Itachi's brief encounter with his mate had been torture.

The Uchiha had thought that the pain brought on by his disease had been tremendous but, when compounded with the constant exhaustion that resulted from him refusing to go to his omega, the suffering was nearly unbearable. He had never felt so miserable.

The pain from being separated from her was almost reminiscent of the exhaustion he had felt when he first displayed, only ramped up so far he thought he was going to lose his mind. It was a sharp ache in the back of his heart. It was a constant tension wrought through his entire form. It was every last one of his nerves on end.

He could never catch his breath, something which had been particularly distressing when he had his coughing fits. He had actually lost consciousness once after a severe coughing fit which had produced a tremendous amount of blood. Luckily, he had been in the shower during that episode, so at least Kisame remained unaware of his illness.

Even with his secret safe, it had still been incredibly alarming to regain consciousness while being sprayed with frigid water and seeing his pale chest covered in a sheen of blood-tinged water.

The ebony haired man had been constantly itchy, like something was crawling under his skin. Just that was enough to drive him mad and make him want to tear his own flesh off just to feel some relief. While staying at a nondescript hotel, he had scratched at himself until he had drawn blood and not even that had brought him any sense of satisfaction.

The exhaustion was one of the more pressing issues, however. His illness constantly diminished his energy as a baseline but when compounded with the drain from refusing to see her, his chakra levels were near negligible. In this state, he could only use his Mangekyo Sharingan once, perhaps twice, before losing consciousness outright.

Itachi slept for ten hours a day and even that did nothing to help him recover when his dreams were plagued by __her__. Dreams so real that he would wake up panting, covered in a sheen of sweat, and with a demanding bulge in between his legs.

The worst part had to be the overwhelming need to find her. The thought infested Itachi's mind and it was a constant struggle just to focus his thoughts on anything else. His body was constantly tense, every fiber of every muscle in his body straining, as his traitorous form demanded that he seek her out, heightening his exhaustion.

The constant distraction didn't fare well for the Uchiha's lifestyle. Some asinine missing ninja who thought they were powerful enough to take on him and his partner had miraculously landed a hit on him, slashing a thick gash across his leg with a kunai. Even Kisame had openly gaped at Itachi, shocked, before landing a killing blow on the presumptuous ninja as easily as he donned his cloak in the morning.

The wound still hadn't healed properly with Itachi's poor circulation, brought on by his disease, and with his body refusing to cooperate with anything but thoughts of her.

Even worse, Kisame was beginning to act as if he was going to press Itachi for answers soon enough, breaking their unspoken agreement to mind their own business. Itachi didn't have a doubt in his mind that Kisame knew that he had been suffering through separation pain, it was glaringly obvious with the changes not only in his behavior but in his pheromones, but the shark ninja had kept to himself. Now that Itachi's focus was beginning to waver to the point that it was affecting his work, however, Kisame would soon have enough. After all, their agreement only held when their partnership remained mutually beneficial.

Itachi knew that his condition would only continue to decline as time went on. She hadn't left his mind for a single moment since that debacle during the extraction ritual. Even when he focused on a jutsu or fought an opponent, she was there. The thought of her, the need to see her, remained at the forefront of his mind no matter what he did to distract himself.

The Uchiha had had a very brief period of time in his chaotic youth where he had thought of sex and his future mate quite often, spurred on by his coming into being an alpha, but nothing compared to the lewd visuals and scenarios his traitorous brain produced for him. He needed to see her, not just to mark her as his and him hers, but because they were made to be together. Being separate was a torture he had never experienced.

Sweet gods, was this what alphas and omegas had to deal with when they lost their mates? He had never felt as much pity for a person than he felt for mates who lost their other half to death during the weeks he desperately tried to reign himself in.

Itachi knew that there was no way she was experiencing the torment he was, as she hadn't even reacted when the breeze had been directed at her group during their brief confrontation. He surmised it was because she had only smelled the corpse he had been using for his clone and not him.

In between incessant fantasies of him fucking her, he felt a distinct feeling of jealousy for his omega. She wasn't suffering as he was.

These thoughts were immediately followed by a sense of guilt. Of course she wasn't and she should never have to. She would be safer and happier if he just faced Sasuke already and let his younger brother take his revenge. Then, she would never have to suffer through this torment as he would be dead, killed by either Sasuke or this miserable disease.

Itachi knew that he should just stay away from her until his demise, but he also knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer. If he faced his brother now, he wasn't sure if he would even be able to push himself, and Sasuke, enough to draw out the Snake Sannin from where he lied in wait in his brother's body.

He just had to hold on a little longer. Just long enough to regain his strength and to finally challenge Sasuke. To give his precious little brother his revenge and to rend Orochimaru from his body.

He just needed to stay in control.

* * *

Six days.

Itachi had only been able to restraint himself for six more days before he broke down. He hadn't even realized he had run off, abandoning an amused Kisame at some inn in Grass Country, until the sensation of speed snapped him out of his daze. He realized, with no small amount of horror, that he was flying through a very familiar forest on the outskirts of Konoha.

How a squad of ANBU hadn't picked him up this close to the village baffled him. When he finally came to, the autopilot he had been on hadn't seem too concerned with stealth. Only speed.

The Uchiha nearly slammed into a tree when he finally came to as he was bolting through the tree tops so quickly. How had he even maintained this speed without actively focusing on his footsteps?

As he came to an abrupt stop on a thick branch, he realized that he had been more concerned with getting to his mate than he had been with the myriad of other pressing issues that would be involved with running into the village he was technically a missing ninja from. What had he even been planning on doing in his daze? Walking right in through the front gate? He must have lost his mind.

Itachi sagged against the tree as the energy he had expended sprinting such a distance finally took it's toll on his already weakened body. He breathed heavily, desperately trying to catch his breath, even as his body and mind screamed at him to continue onward.

He couldn't take this anymore. He couldn't take the constant physical agony, the exhaustion, the feeling like bugs were under his skin, and least of all the overwhelming need to see her. He couldn't focus, he could barely utilize jutsu anymore, he couldn't recharge his chakra… He could hardly sleep, he couldn't stomach food, he couldn't even __think__. The only thought that dominated his mind constantly was that he had to see her. It was his duty to be with her and he could no longer deny it.

It was a miracle he had been able to hold off for three weeks. It was a miracle he hadn't just dropped dead from the strain.

The alpha's mind had already rewarded him for his decision to finally see her with a near giddy joy that rushed through his body like a drug. Leaning his head back against the massive tree trunk behind him, he fought the urge to smile through his labored breaths.

The Uchiha used this moment of lucidity to finally make a plan. He certainly couldn't go strolling into Konoha as if he had just been away on a simple mission. He may have a death wish, but it certainly wasn't to die at the hands of the entirety of the population of his old village. He wasn't even sure if he could fight anymore if a squad of ANBU came upon him.

He had grown up in this village and had served in the black ops for two years before the massacre. He knew this forest like he knew the back of his hand. After taking one look around himself and taking note of the couple landmarks he could spot through the tree tops, he knew exactly where he was: alarmingly close to the village and pleasantly close to the location of a hidden Uchiha stockpile, one of a couple dozen that had been hidden away in case the revolt hadn't turned out as planned.

Itachi silently thanked whatever Uchiha had been capable of not only overcoming their own pride and assuredness of success but of being convincing enough to divert Uchiha supplies to hidden caches.

He began his trek to the tucked away cave which hid this stockpile as he crafted a plan of action for meeting __her__.

The Uchiha was extremely satisfied to see that the supplies, and even the genjutsu that concealed the cave it resided within, remained untouched. Miraculous, considering it had been created nearly a decade ago. He passed through the genjutsu easily with the aid of his sharingan, the illusion of a mossy rock wall rippling as he passed through it.

He lit one of the torches lining the wall with a simple fire jutsu, an elementary technique which was startlingly draining in his state, before investigating what supplies had been hidden here. He shed his cloak in a bitter attempt to relieve his over heated body and draped it over one of the wooden supply crates that lined the back of the small cave.

He found numerous weapons, a fact which hadn't surprised him. This stockpile had been created in case the Uchiha had been forced to flee Konoha after all. He also found a supply of soldier pills (one of which he choked down immediately in an attempt to maintain the little chakra he had remaining), rations, jugs of water, spare clothes, first aid kits, and a myriad of other perfectly organized supplies.

Itachi sat down heavily on one of the crates as his exhaustion took hold once again. His chest hurt worse than it had since his disease resurfaced, his heart slamming against his rib cage as it struggle to pump blood through his tattered veins. Even with the pain coursing through his body, his uncaring mind still screamed at him to just infiltrate Konoha and find her already.

The only thing that stopped him was his will to actually live to see her and his want for some semblance of privacy. He sat there for a long while, trying to calm the maelstrom in his mind and his frantic heartbeat enough to focus his chakra.

He flew through the hand seals needed for his summoning jutsu before biting into his thumb, drawing a trickle of blood. He pressed his palm onto the crate next to him and the kanji designating which creature he was summoning erupted from his hand in concentric circles. A puff of smoke briefly obscured his view of the black text.

The Uchiha's summon, a nondescript looking crow, flapped his wings to clear the smoke around him. He hopped around, his talons scratching at the wood of the crate, in order to face Itachi and gave him a thorough once over.

"Goodness, Itachi. You look ghastly," the crow bluntly commented in a concerned tone. Itachi huffed out a laugh, the musty cave air clawing at his heaving lungs.

"It's good to see you as well, Karasu," Itachi responded as he smirked blearily at his companion.

The crow hopped closer to his summoner and stared at the still healing scratch marks on his forearms. He tilted his head from side to side, investigating the injuries.

"You did this to yourself. Why?" Karasu questioned seriously, leveling the Uchiha with a stare.

"I have found __her__ and I have been refusing to see her," Itachi replied in a soft voice, earning a ruffle from the crow.

"Her? As in… Your omega?" The summon gasped, hopping to attention.

When the alpha nodded blearily, the crow flapped his wings excitedly.

Karasu had known the Uchiha since he was a young boy, when he had first signed a contract with the crows and before he had even displayed. Him and Shisui had been close friends of Karasu and his abundant flock.

"Ah, what wonderful news! Absolutely wonderful! I knew you would find her eventually," Karasu cawed happily as he ruffled his feathers back into place once again, "Although I suspect that you didn't summon me simply to share the good news. Am I to believe that your refusal to see her has changed and I'm to help locate her?"

"As bright as ever, I see. She is a medical ninja, so I suspect that you'll first locate her near the hospital. She should be easy to spot, considering she is the only person I have ever seen with pink hair."

"A leaf kunoichi, hmm? How romantic. Konoha is still quite familiar to me, so I should find her quickly. I'll be off immediately. But, Itachi?" The crow started before patiently waiting for his summoner to focus, "I'd suggest cleaning yourself. My sense of smell is near negligible and I can pick up your scent. It wouldn't do for you to reek as you do when you first meet her, now would it?"

"...Duly noted," Itachi deadpanned, leveling his obstinate bird with a disbelieving stare.

He was one of the most powerful shinobi in the world and his summon still had the gall to sass him just as much as when they had first met.

Karasu promptly left the cave to search for Sakura once Itachi gestured towards the concealed exit of the cave. The Uchiha gazed down at the jugs of water and spare clothes before releasing a heavy sigh and resisting the maddening urge to scratch at his forearms.

* * *

Sakura couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched.

Ever since she had left the hospital that night and trudged home to bathe and sleep, she could feel eyes on her. She had slyly checked her surroundings during her walk home but found nothing out of the ordinary.

No one was on the street she walked down, considering the late hour. Nothing was out of place on the familiar road she took to get home every night. There were no chakra signatures anywhere around her, let alone the malicious chakra she searched for.

She didn't feel as if she were in danger per se. Only as if someone was watching her very closely...

While Sakura immediately bristled at the thought of being observed from the shadows by anyone, she tried to brush it off. She had just spent the last twelve hours performing multiple surgeries. She didn't have the energy available to spend getting furious at her voyeur.

A team of ANBU had been unfortunate enough to 'run into some interference' on their mission, as their captain had blandly stated while Sakura had been finagling the masked woman's tattered intestines back into their proper place. How the captain had managed to stay so emotionless while staring at pieces of herself that should have never seen the light of day astounded the medical ninja.

Perhaps her strung out nerves were playing tricks on her. Or perhaps, more likely, the ANBU were keeping a close eye on her after she spent had so much time patching up one of their operatives.

Either way, the sensation grated at her. When she ascended the stairs into her apartment (recently acquired once her paychecks from the hospital started overwhelming her lockbox) and went inside, she promptly shut the blinds with more force than necessary.

If this was Naruto trying to play a trick on her again, she was going to knock him into next week. He knew better than to mess with her after such a long shift at the hospital, especially since she had put him in the hospital the last time he tried to prank her after such an arduous day.

Sakura took a quick shower and pulled on her sleeping clothes before falling into bed like a sack of stones. At this point, she was too exhausted to make herself something to eat and figured she'd just eat breakfast that morning.

As she laid down to go to sleep, she still couldn't shake the sensation of being watched. The feeling frustrated her, compounding her still remaining confusion from the confrontation with Itachi a few weeks ago that had yet to dissipate.

The kunoichi had yet to come up with a viable reason for why the man had just dropped his jutsu like he had and why he had given her that look, and the mystery bothered her considerably. She had yet to be presented with a problem she couldn't solve and not having an answer tormented her.

Sakura sighed angrily as she turned off the lamp in her bedroom, intent on getting some rest. Despite her exhaustion, she tossed and turned for some time, bothered by the sensation that she was being observed and the question which had no answer.

* * *

That morning, Sakura had eaten a breakfast for two before getting dressed, intent on checking up on her post-surgery patients in the medical surgical unit before spending the rest of her day studying the scrolls she had borrowed from Shizune on rare poisons.

She had been walking down the same road she took to get home from the hospital that previous night when the sensation of being watched struck her once again. She continued on her stroll, not outwardly showing any signs of her upset, but covertly investigated her surroundings more thoroughly.

A couple of her neighbors mulled about in their yards, tending to their lawns and gardens. The shop on the corner was just opening, the elderly proprietor sweeping the front stoop in preparation for her customers. A few ninja ran along the rooftops, heading various directions as they took care of their duties.

What caught Sakura's eyes, however, was a crow perched on the electrical line across the street from her. The dark feathered creatures certainly weren't an anomaly in Konoha. They were around all year, picking through trash and hoarding food in various spots around the village. However, she got an odd gut feeling when she saw it and she had been trained to never ignore a gut feeling.

In the field, and in the hospital, a gut feeling could mean the difference between life and death.

When the kunoichi stopped in her tracks to observe it directly, the crow tilted its head at her, as if observing her back. She watched the feathered creature as it ruffled its feathers, looking away and instead focusing on something in the distance.

Sakura had never gotten the sensation of being observed from an animal such as a crow before, but she felt as if it was that bird that was watching her. There was something off about it. Something different. It continued to stare out at some point in the distance instead of it's attention being drawn to various other things in the environment like a normal, curious crow.

Just as Sakura considered going to investigate the creature (people could call her paranoid if she was wrong, but what if she was right?), a voice spoke up from her side.

"Ms. Haruno. You're needed at the Hokage's office," a young chunin with unruly brown locks informed curtly, pulling Sakura's attention away from the bird.

"Ah, of course... I'll be there soon," she replied with a nod before the young ninja took to the rooftops to deliver more messages around the village.

When Sakura glanced back to where the crow had been, it was already gone.

* * *

Sakura loaded her travel pack with all the necessities she'd need for her week long mission.

She had been ordered to travel to a clinic in a fairly distant town by the coast to deliver a fresh stock of valuable and difficult to concoct medicine. There wasn't a dire emergency that required her assistance as a medical ninja, but her skills were needed in order to ensure the supply of medicine arrived at the village safely and intact.

Her experience as not only a proficient medical ninja and Tsunade's apprentice, but now as the woman who had killed Sasori of the Red Sand (with the help of Chiyo, a fact that was mostly glossed over despite the elder's major contribution to the fight) afforded her many unique and well-paying missions. She was often chosen specifically for her talents, a far cry from what she had suffered through as a genin.

After beginning to earn a reputation as Tsunade's apprentice, Sakura had begun to take on a significant number of high ranking missions, most of which drew upon her skills as a medical ninja. The pay was wonderful and had given her a substantial amount of funds to which she had no idea what to do with. The chakra-sealed lock box hidden in her closet was close to bursting at the seams but, aside from adding to her library and the occasional splurging on clothes, she had yet to come up with much to spend it on.

What appealed to her the most about taking so many difficult missions, however, hadn't been the money. It was the sense of accomplishment. After years of being dismissed and ignored as an unskilled kunoichi, the pride she felt while burning through these missions was intoxicating. Not only was she respected enough to be chosen specifically for a number of sensitive tasks but she was more than capable of handling them.

While she avoided all of the assassination missions she was offered (killing still didn't sit well with her, despite having taken a few lives in her career), she was more than happy (manically thrilled even) to take part in sabotage missions where she could utilize her strength to topple buildings.

It was only recently, after her triumph over Sasori and after her picture was added to the bingo book, that she had been offered a number of missions that had a price tag that made her jaw drop. After this mission, given to her by Lady Tsunade personally, she had planned on taking on one of the missions with a payoff that she could use to pay her rent for the next year.

For now, she would take care of this simple delivery mission and return home. Even if leaving the village then had her nerves on edge. The task that she had set before her didn't have her worried, but the odd sensation of being watched for the last day did. The sensation of being observed had died away after she left the Hokage's office, but she had a gut feeling that had her on high alert.

Sakura wasn't expecting to run into much trouble on this simple delivery mission, but she didn't want to take a chance by being complacent. Her picture was in the bingo book now as one of the few people in the world who had killed an Akatsuki member, after all. Her new status as an A-ranked Konoha kunoichi, paired with a bounty worth 1.5 million ryo, offered with it a whole new host of dangers.

As she packed, she tucked a packet of soldier pills and a number of explosive tags into the pack on her hip. Just in case.

* * *

Karasu fluttered into his summoner's temporary hideout with ease, the genjutsu concealing the mouth of the cave barely rippling as his small body passed through it. He perched on one of the crates next to Itachi, who appeared to be holding up and had changed into a spare set of clothes tucked into the stockpile.

The man gazed at his summon without even lifting his head from it's spot resting on top of his palm, waiting for the crow's report.

"Good news. I found her last night, leaving the hospital as you said. However, I gleaned some information from her visit with the Hokage this morning which should be of some interest to you," he declared immediately, drawing a bleary nod from the barely maintaining Uchiha.

"Yes?" Itachi choked out as he forced his attention onto his summon.

"The Hokage has sent her on a solo mission to a small town on the southern border of Fire. She's outside of the village now, heading towards..." the crow explained before becoming suddenly aware that he was now alone in the dingy cave.

Karasu was positive that the man hadn't heard anything passed "outside the village".

The crow sighed deeply, still not understanding the complexities of humans. The bizarre heat cycles and alpha-omega bonds that they went through were beyond him. Why couldn't they just find a suitable mate, make a nest, and have a brood of hatchlings like normal birds?

"At least he groomed himself, I suppose…" The bird muttered to the empty cave around him before dispelling himself and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

He sincerely doubted that his summoner would have any more use for his skills during the rest of this ridiculous endeavor.

* * *

The beginning of her trip had been uneventful.

Sakura had decided to take to the trees for this mission instead of using the beaten road that lead to the secluded town. She did hold a rather valuable supply of medicine, all packaged in neat paper bundles in her pack, and running along the canopy of the forest would cut down on any bandit activity she might face. She wasn't concerned with bandits in the slightest as the petty thieves weren't even a work out for her anymore, but what did concern her was the feeling of being watched in the village. That stupid, unassuming crow had her mind racing through possibilities.

The kunoichi couldn't shake the feeling that she had missed something important.

She had never gotten the feeling of being watched by such an unassuming, docile animal before. She had felt the malicious intent from a few predators during both of her chunin exams and some of her earlier missions, but not any longer. The beasts she encountered in the wild seemed to regard her as a more threatening predator now, a change which had been the most bizarre confidence boost she had even gotten when she noticed it the first time.

But that damned crow... There was something special about it, she knew it. It wasn't like she could mention her concern to the Hokage though. What would they do? Catch every crow in Konoha and interrogate them? If it was a summoned creature, it would just disappear before it was found.

With a suddenness that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, the sensation of being watched returned tenfold. Instead of just being watched, however, it felt deeper. More visceral.

She felt like she was being stalked.

Sakura scowled deeply as she continued her run calmly, searching for a better place for a confrontation. If there was to be a fight, she would decide upon a battleground that would give her an advantage. She needed a break in the treeline, a clear area. She fought better when she could get up and close with her opponent, and trees tended to get in the way of her strikes.

She found the perfect location, a section of the forest that had a decent clearing, and leapt down from the canopy. She stood in the grassy clearing and spun around, turning to face the area she had just traveled. Clenching her fists, she glared out into the thick forest and waited.

She rapidly sensed someone in the tree line behind her, and moved to turn around. Just as she had planted her feet, intending to face her would-be opponent, she smelled them.

Sakura stumbled, nearly brought to her knees as the scent she caught brought with it an immediate and overwhelming sense of heady bliss. She basked in the sensation for a long moment, completely dazed, as her trembling fists released at her sides.

She hadn't thought about the possibility of finding her alpha since Sasuke left the village three years ago. After dedicating her life to becoming a medical ninja and a proficient kunoichi, thoughts of finding her mate had faded away into the background. There was no time for such childish and unattainable fantasies when she had the lives of her comrades in her hands.

But here they were. She found them. Or they found her? Her mate, her alpha was here. She wanted to turn to face them, to meet them head on, but found her feet were rooted to the ground.

She had never experienced such an immediate and powerful reaction to anything before. Certainly not like this. It was like the rest of the world had faded away around her, leaving nothing but the clearing in the forest and her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

It was then that she felt them appear behind her, the burst of wind that came with their sudden appearance carrying their scent. As their distinct scent, which reminded her of smoke from a campfire on a winter night but had a commanding undertone that she couldn't even begin describe, blanketed over her, her knees wobbled.

Sakura immediately fell under the thrall of her heat.

* * *

Itachi tried to keep a safe distance from his omega as he followed her, forcing himself to stay hidden until the opportune time. He desperately wanted to just hop out of the canopy and jump her, gathering her up in his arms and pressing her up against a tree.

The thrill of the chase satisfied an animalistic part of him that he had always ignored. The need to attack, to drag her to the floor and press his teeth against her throat until she submitted to him, was getting harder and harder to resist. As he flew through the trees, following her by scent more than anything else, he could feel a howl building in his throat.

He had to take breaks in his chase to try to calm himself down. He kept catching her intoxicating scent in large bursts as he drew closer to her and, every time it did, it was a struggle to not attack. She hadn't noticed him yet and he didn't want her to until they were far enough away from Konoha.

In these breaks, the small, sane part of his mind that remained tried to convince him to leave. This poor woman didn't know he was her mate yet, and she would live a much happier and safer life if she never did. He was destined to die after all and very soon. She shouldn't have to suffer through that just because he didn't have a strong enough will.

The Uchiha's feet moved of their own accord, lessening the space between them until he saw the kunoichi drop out of the trees and into a small clearing. She appeared to be expecting a battle, which he felt was almost accurate. He hadn't realized the stalking intent he had been putting off in his excitement.

He dropped out of the tree line behind her silently, peering out at his beautiful, powerful omega glaring out into the trees. She looked glorious prepared for battle, her fists tight and her stance strong. He leaned against the tree heavily, his mind making one last desperate attempt at convincing him to leave as he took in a deep lungful of her cloying scent.

Itachi knew the exact moment that his mate finally smelled him, the fluctuating breeze taking his scent and blowing it into the clearing. He watched as her eyes became distant and her fists relaxed at her sides as she recognized his scent as her alpha. Using his sharingan, he memorized the look on her face as she was overcome. When the scent of her heat, spurred on by his appearance, washed over him, there was no turning back.

There was nothing left to do but succumb.

In a burst of speed, he appeared behind her. The second that that his warmth and scent washed over her, she took a half step back and fell against his chest heavily. She felt like fire as they touched for the first time, his skin burning even under his clothes.

 _ _Finally__ _..._

* * *

 _ _A/N: Karasu literally means "crow" because I'm so original. Should have named him "Sass".__


	4. Thrall

The second Sakura leaned back against Itachi, already baring her neck to him, all traces of his previous agony evaporated instantaneously. It was as if a tide had come and washed away all of his suffering, leaving behind nothing but a heady euphoria.

The intoxicating scent of her heat overwhelmed him, the world around him withering away as his focus narrowed until only she occupied it. His omega, his mate. The woman he was meant to be with, the woman who was made for him and his body. Who was born to take his knot and his seed.

"It's you," Sakura gasped, her voice thick with emotion and arousal.

His arms encircled her, one hand settling between her breasts and the other splaying across her stomach. As he pulled her flush against his chest, he could feel her racing heart beneath his palm.

Itachi hummed in response as her gloved hands flew up to grasp at his arms. The sound came out as a growl, a low rumble in his chest, that made her quake in his embrace. The scent of her heat only magnified in response to his animalistic noise, his face dropping against her neck to take it in.

She smelled like Konoha's flower gardens after a heavy rainstorm. Sweet and clean with a distinct feminine aspect that was entirely her. A heady undertone that demanded he dominate her and fill her with his seed until she was heavy with his pups like they were destined to do since the day they were born.

Nuzzling her neck, the Uchiha basked in her intoxicating smell. Unable to resist, he dragged his tongue from her collarbone to her chin, tasting her skin and drawing a breathy gasp from his mate. He pressed his nose into her hair and took in another desperate lungful of her scent, his heart thundering in his chest.

Sakura's gloved hands gripped his arms shakily, holding onto him as if he were her only savior in a turbulent sea. He dragged one of his hands up her chest, crossing her breast and slipping across her throat, until it settled on her chin.

Itachi wanted her to know who he was, who her alpha was and whose knot she would be taking. He wanted her to see him and he wanted to memorize what little of her face he could still see with his deteriorating eyesight when she did.

A distant part of the Uchiha was frightened of Sakura's reaction. More than that, he was frightened of his own reaction. He was terrified that she would recognize him as Itachi the Clan Killer and bolt for the hills, desperate to get away from her tragic fate.

After weeks of torment, after finally touching her, and after finally tasting her skin and basking in her scent, he knew he would give chase.

He tilted her chin up more gently that he thought he was capable at that moment and she immediately complied, tilting her head back and looking up at his face. She gazed into his sharingan without hesitation, her pupils so wide that nearly all of the viridian of her irises was swallowed up.

The only sign that Sakura recognized him at all was her eyebrows quirking up.

"Itachi…" She whimpered softly, and just hearing his name come from her lips sent a rush a pleasure through him.

"Sakura…" He purred, the syllables of her name tasting like honey on his tongue.

For a moment, as he memorized her blurry face and she stared into his sharingan with half-lidded eyes, he wondered if she was going to run.

Instead, as Sakura maintained eye contact with him, she ground her rear against his already painfully hard member. Itachi growled deeply, distantly shocked that he could even produce such an animalistic sound, and she quivered in his arms. His hand slipped down to cradle her throat, instinctively asserting his dominance over her, and he could feel her frantic pulse against his fingertips as she submitted to him once again.

Itachi descended upon her, sealing their lips together in a searing kiss. She moaned against his mouth and he took the opportunity to press his tongue between her lips. The hand he had splayed across her stomach slid up until he grasped at her breast through her shirt. Sakura mewled softly against his lips, sending a shiver through his entire body.

Spurred on by the demanding scent of her heat and the need coursing through his veins, he roughly spun her around. Finally face to face, he wrapped his arms underneath her rear and immediately dragged her into his arms. She eagerly followed, her arms encircling his neck and her powerful thighs wrapping around his waist.

He blindly walked forward until her back met the thick trunk of a nearby tree. He used the tree to grind his throbbing member against her core, his omega groaning in a high pitch. Her thighs tightened around his hips as if to draw him even closer, spurring him onward, as she reached between them to rip open his cloak.

The alpha pulled a kunai from the holster on her thigh, the decisive sound of metal ringing out. His omega didn't even flinch at the sound, them both knowing instinctively that as her mate, he could never hurt her. He carefully slid the point of the knife under her medic apron, her shorts, and her underwear. The finely sharpened blade cut through the clothes like paper as he dragged it down the seam of her shorts.

Sakura's medic apron immediately fell to the forest floor beneath them with a dull thump, weighed down by her pouch and all of her gear. The pouch that contained her kunai and shuriken dropped down with it, a few shuriken clinking together as they slipped out of the holster and only the grass.

He dropped the kunai to the floor carelessly before reaching underneath her powerful thighs to undo the drawstring on his own pants. She unlooped one of her arms from her desperate grip around his neck to reach down and frantically tug the remains of her shorts and underwear to one leg.

As Itachi pushed his pants and underwear down so they could drop to halfway down his thigh, the full scent of her sex hit him, causing his now free member to throb. He could feel her arousal soaking into the bottom of his borrowed shirt, the scent making his head swim.

Sakura dropped her forehead to rest against his, her half lidded eyes staring into his sharingan as she held onto him with a desperate grip. He gazed back into her eyes, taking in her flushed cheeks and widely dilated pupils. They both breathed heavily as he positioned himself against her soaking wet entrance.

He pressed into his omega's hot, silky channel, immediately losing himself to the feeling of his throbbing member sinking into her soaking passage. Her eyelashes fluttered and she gasped for breath as he slid into her but neither of them lost each other's gaze.

When he was fully hilted within her, they both took in a shaky breath, overwhelmed by the sensation of finally being joined. His blood burned through his veins as his heart sung in unfettered joy. He had never felt anything like this before. The sensation of pure bliss and absolute satisfaction was so intoxicating that he wasn't sure why he had ever denied himself her presence.

This was exactly where he was meant to be. Where he was always meant to be.

Itachi's hands trembled as they returned to her thighs to support her.

When he slowly pulled out of her, she took in a sharp breath, and when he sunk back into her, she let loose a broken moan. He groaned as her walls squeezed him, his grip tightening around her thighs.

Lost to Sakura's heat and lost to his own senses, his next thrust was far less gentle. Her gasps and breathy moans did nothing but encourage him, his pace quickly escalating until he was burying himself within her relentlessly.

As he roughly filled her, the heels of her boots dug into his lower back, pulling him even farther into her hot channel and demanding he fuck her harder. Her fingernails dug into his shoulder and back, her nails pressing through the fabric of his cloak and shirt and biting into his skin.

When he changed the angle of his thrusts, his pelvis slamming against her pleasure point with every frenzied thrust, she cried out. Her head dropped back against the trunk of the tree as she released her blissful moans. Her eyes squeezed shut and he could feel as her soaking walls began to flutter around his penetrating length.

Itachi gazed up at his omega with his sharingan in awe, needing to remember her face when she came for him. His thrusts were unwavering even as her moans of ecstasy filled the air of the forest around them.

When Sakura orgasmed, she cried out and held onto him like he was her lifeline. Her entire body trembled in his arms as her pleasure rocketed through her. Her soaking walls fluttered around his unyielding member, the product of her arousal dripping down his length. The intensity of her pleasure and her tight inner muscles clenching him spurred on his own finish.

Itachi thrusted into her twice more before he sunk into her as deeply as he could manage, the base of his member swelling as his knot formed within her. Her entrance tightened around his knot, trapping them together in the most intimate of embraces, a joining only possible with their bond.

He growled deep in his throat as he dumped streams of his hot ejaculate within her. He had never formed a knot before and the ecstacy that coursed through his veins was a pleasure he had never experienced in his life.

"Ahh! Your-your knot! It's filling me so much!" Sakura sobbed, her walls trembling around his swollen cock as he continued to fill her unendingly with his cum. Her hands fisted in his cloak desperately, her body quaking under her bliss.

"Yes, Sakura…" Itachi breathed against her throat, rocking his hips against her and teasing her clit as he continued to dump his seed within her.

She whined in the back of her throat, the sound drawing a purr from him. Spurred on by her overwhelming scent and the euphoria from their joining as mates, he instinctively sunk his teeth into the tender flesh of her exposed throat. She moaned, a sound of pain and rapture, as his teeth broke flesh. He felt as her channel clenched around him even more tightly, her orgasm fueled that much farther by his dominance of her.

Itachi dragged his tongue across the fresh wound that he knew would scar, a mark declaring her as his and the only time that an alpha could even harm their mate. Any alpha that laid eyes on her would know that she was claimed, that she belonged to him. He shivered as the coppery taste of her blood overwhelmed his senses, the meaning of his marking her overwhelmingly satisfying to his alpha nature.

Even after he finished releasing himself, his knot remained hard and heavy within her, refusing to allow any of his seed to escape her passage. He could feel a satisfied purr emanating from his omega against his lips, the blissful sound pleasing him deeply. He rewarded her by rolling his hips against her, his pelvis pressing into her clit and drawing a gasp from his mate.

"More," Sakura moaned, rocking her hips to meet his gentle thrusts, "Not deep enough…"

Itachi could do nothing but obey in the face of his mate's breathless demand. After all, he was her alpha and it was his duty to please her.

Pulling her away from the tree and stepping around the kunai he had carelessly dropped on the ground earlier, he laid her out on the soft grass. His still pulsing member remained deep within her folds, his knot anchoring them together.

He rocked his hips against her, willing his knot to loosen just enough to begin to fuck her once again.

The alpha removed the remnants of her shorts and panties that still hung from her leg and tossed the tattered garments to the side. He pulled down the zipper of her shirt, opening the front of the garment and exposing the bindings around her breasts. She panted heavily, her cheeks and her chest flushed, as he tugged open the bindings around her chest.

As soon as Sakura's dainty breasts were released, he grasped one in his hand. He noticed they fit into his palm perfectly as he kneaded the soft globes. One of her petite hands grasped onto the hem of his cloak, desperate for something to hang on to. When he rolled her nipple in between his thumb and forefinger, she spread her thighs even farther for her mate.

He pulled back, his hips still rolling against hers, and settled his fingers onto the pleasure point nestled between her widely spread thighs. As he drew slow circles around her clit, she groaned in pleasure, arching her back and fisting her hands in his cloak. A low growl rumbled in his throat, his omega shivering at the sound.

When Itachi felt his knot begin to slide within her, slick with their combined fluids, Sakura cried out in ecstasy. He grasped both of her knees in his hands, hooking her legs over his shoulders so she would be spread for him. He wasted to time on pretense or gentleness, knowing what his mate needed, and set a unforgiving pace immediately.

He needed to fill her with more of his semen until she was swollen with it, needed to make her heavy with pups, needed to please his omega.

The Uchiha nipped at the skin of the inside of her knee as his hips snapped against hers. The forest was filled with the sounds of her pleasured cries and the sound of flesh on flesh as he filled her. She had to grab onto the grass beneath her just to have something to hang on to as he fucked her. He watched as his unforgiving thrusts jostled her petite breasts and as his mate's face contorted in ecstasy.

Sakura's loud cries echoed in the forest and some distant, unimportant part of Itachi was concerned that she might attract a squad of ANBU with her wails. The part of him that was in control at the moment needed her to scream louder.

He sucked in a breath as he felt as something deep within her gave in. The pocket of cum that he had filled her with disappeared farther within her as he continued to drive into her, the head of his cock reaching deep inside of her and touching a soft inner barrier.

Itachi could feel his mate's passage tighten around him, signaling her impending orgasm. He grunted as his grip on her thighs tightened, thrusting even harder into her sopping passage to bring out her pleasure.

When Sakura came this time, the sound she made was closer to a sob than a moan. Her hot channel fluttered around his slowly swelling member, drawing him farther into her feminine passage. He groaned low in his throat as he felt her cervix begin to yield to his thrusts. Her deepest hole was softening and parting for his unwavering cock and the meaning behind it sent a bolt of white hot pleasure straight to his knot.

"Oh, Sakura," Itachi growled, his fingers tightening around her thighs as he buried his member even deeper into her passage than before, desperate to fill her even more fully, "You're spreading for me."

The base of his member started to swell with his knot, beginning to trap his length within her tightening walls. With one more rough thrust, he forced the head of his cock passed the edges of her spreading barrier and into her womb, dragging a scream of bliss from his omega.

Sakura sounded like she was wailing, she was so overwhelmed by the pleasure of Itachi filling her deepest place with his seed. His hips twitched against hers as he dumped ropes of cum within her, bypassing her inner most barrier and filling her directly. Her soft belly bulged as her welcoming body accepted his semen, her walls clamping down on his member and trapping him inside of her as she came.

He looked up at her face, her cheeks flushed and her mouth open as she sobbed in ecstasy. His member throbbed within her as he stretched her deepest place with his cum. When he finally finished filling her, he released her thighs, allowing her knees to limply fall apart on either side of his hips. His hands dropped down to slide across her soft, swollen belly.

Itachi sunk down, pressing his face in between Sakura's breasts. He smelled her deeply, searching for the change in scent that he instinctively knew to search for. The change in the scent of her heat that meant his seed had taken. That she was well and truly his.

Not finding the scent he craved, he snarled against her skin. His mate whimpered above him, snapping him out of his daze. He immediately shot upward, nuzzling her neck in comfort and purring. She mewled as he dragged his tongue across the bite mark on her throat, soothing the abused flesh and reassuring her of his bond with her.

Itachi wrapped an arm around her waist and around her neck and pulled her up, setting her into his lap. She cried out softly as she was impaled deeper by his still hard member, his swollen knot still trapped within her and the head of his length still seated deep within her womb. Purring softly, he nuzzled her throat affectionately.

He rested his back against the trunk of the tree, Sakura sinking against him and panting heavily against his throat. He closed his eyes and leaned against the tree, intent on catching his breath. His lungs felt like they were on fire, but the pain brought on by his disease was so incredibly unimportant to him at that moment that it hardly phased him.

The Uchiha was amazed when he felt the slow rise and fall of his mate's hips as she started riding him instead. He opened his eyes to look down at Sakura, enthralled, as she gazed into his sharingan bright eyes with her blown out viridian orbs.

Even though his knot was trapped deep within his omega still, her gentle motions still brought them both intense pleasure.

He bent his knees, still tangled in his pants, so Sakura could brace her hands against his thighs as she leaned back. They both panted hard, exhausted, but she continued to moan with every thrust. She threw her head back, her hair brushing against his knees.

When Itachi's knot finally loosened enough to slip free from her innermost passage, Sakura cried out low and long. Her pace in riding him stuttered, her entire body trembling above him as she rose until his member nearly slipped free from her folds. He growled, gripping her hips and forcing her back down onto his length, not allowing his cock to leave her until she was truly his. Her entrance was slippery with cum as he thrust all the way back inside of her, his mate wailing with pleasure as his tip breached her cervix and returned to her deepest place once again.

Her cry immediately brought out his alpha nature. Sitting forward, he pressed her back to the grass once again as he towered over her. He sunk down, pressing his teeth to the bite mark he had left on her throat. His domination of her had Sakura releasing a whimper of submission as her legs spread wide on either side of his hips to accommodate him.

When Itachi began to thrust, filling her once again, she clung to him. Pinning her to the ground, he kept her submissive to him as he buried himself within her. Changing the angle of his thrusts, he felt as the head of his length breached her spread cervix over and over. Her moans were wild and euphoric as he fucked her womb, his tip pleasuring her innermost hole with every snap of his hips.

He could feel his third orgasm rapidly building within him, the feeling of fucking her deepest place the most pleasurable thing he had ever experienced. A pleasure only bonded alphas and omegas could share. Sakura keened high in her throat, a desperate, animalistic noise, as she came around him

The feeling of her shivering folds squeezing his length as she came brought on his final orgasm. He could feel his knot engorge and gripped Sakura's hips to drag her as far down onto him as he could. She released a broken groan as he slipped into her deepest place, his growing knot trapping the head of his cock far passed her soft cervix.

Her moans began to sound closer to howls as he began to cum deep within her once again, his seed over filling her womb.

"Itachiii! It's so much, I don't think I can- ah! I don't think I can take it all, there's so much," she cried out, her hands gripping his shoulders as if he were the only thing keeping her from bursting at the seams.

As she sobbed, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, her womb being stretched by the sheer amount of semen he was filling her with.

"You can take it, Sakura. It's what you're meant to do. You'll be heavy with my pups soon, you just need to take it all," Itachi groaned against her skin, his hips twitching against hers as he continued to dump his cum within her.

He knew it. He could already start to smell the change in her heat as his ejaculate stretched her wide, her lean stomach bulging with his seed. She just needed to take all of his cum and she would be his.

A tear slipped free from the corner of Sakura's eye, her pain as powerful as the pleasure she was still experiencing, her walls still quaking around his flexing cock as she continued to orgasm. He whisked away the stray tear with his tongue before dropping his face down to her neck.

"You're so close, just a little more," he groaned against her throat, peppering her damp skin with tender kisses as he finally finished filling her.

When his stream of ejaculate finally subsided, his knot still heavy within her as they remained trapped together, Sakura's head fell back against the soft grass. They both panted heavily, her passage still twitching with the last vestiges of her orgasm. Pleasure still washed over him, his knot swollen and stuck deep within her.

Itachi nuzzled her neck, taking in a deep lungful of his omega's scent. Another wave of pleasure washed over him as he smelled the difference in her scent, a sensation of absolute satisfaction overcoming him.

She was his, she was his, _she was his._

The Uchiha sat up, leaning back until his back rested against the thick trunk of the tree behind him once again. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close while still being careful with her hugely swollen belly.

Sakura whimpered in pain, so filled with his seed that she was stretched to the point of pain. As the sad sound reached him, Itachi tried to comfort her by planting soft kisses anywhere he could reach: her hairline, her temple, her cheek, her chin, and her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his neck before reaching up just long enough to gently kiss him on the lips.

Sakura cuddled up to her alpha contentedly, drowning herself in his scent as she was blissfully unaware of the change within her. He held her close and listened as her breathing quickly became calm and soft. He tilted his head to rest on hers affectionately, knowing the exact moment she fell asleep as her pheromones died down just enough for him to think for the first time in - Sweet gods, the sun was nearly setting - hours.

Itachi was finally able to relax for the first time in nearly a month as he cradled his sated nude mate in his arms.

As Sakura contentedly slept in his embrace, Itachi pulled the edges of his cloak, which had billowed out around him, around her. He was concerned for her and wanted to tend to her, to protect her from something as harmless as the slight chill in the air.

He had no idea that them coming together for the first time was going to be so incredibly intense. He hadn't even able to control himself. A blush colored his cheeks as he recalled their... activities from the last few hours.

The Uchiha gazed at what little sky he could see through the trees, painted oranges and reds with the sunset. Looking back down at the sleeping form of his omega, he realized that they couldn't spend the next who knows how many days in the middle of the forest.

He may have succeeded in his task but he was still under the thrall of her heat. He would still be tending to her and fucking her until her pheromones finally subsided, his alpha nature needing to ensure she was well and truly pupped before he could bear to be separated from her.

Even now, with his knot having softened and with him free to move, he refused to remove himself from his omega's folds.

Itachi made a few hand seals around his mate's back, slow enough to not disturb her, and watched as a shadow clone of himself puffed into existence before him. This clone wasn't meant for combat, so he didn't utilize his normal crow-based clones.

"Go find a suitable nest for my mate and I for the next few days. Whatever you have to do, find a safe location. And take her things with you," he ordered, the clone nodding silently in response. He fished around in the inner pockets of his cloak before locating the pouch that held his funds and tossing it to his clone who caught it easily.

The clone didn't move, however, as it stared at Sakura for a long moment with an unreadable expression. Itachi glared menacingly and growled deeply in his throat at his own construct, wrapping the edge of his cloak farther around his mate. The clones gaze shot up to Itachi's eyes and it seemed surprised by his creators fury. It looked away and quickly gathered Sakura's medic apron, her packs and pouches, and even the tattered remains of her clothes from the grass before shooting off into the forest, intent on completing its task.

As Itachi watched his clone run off, he sighed heavily. This was just ridiculous. He had been ready to destroy his own clone just for looking at her. He would have felt like an idiot if he had because he would have had to summon another one anyways, probably to repeat the whole process over again. What was he going to do next? Smash his fist through a mirror if his own reflection looked at her?

By the time his clone was finished with its task and puffed out of existence, it was nearing full dark. When it dispelled, a flood of memories from its experience came to him. He knew exactly where their nest was, that they would be safe, and where the clone had stashed the money he had given it.

The memory he received from it that dominated his mind, however, was the memory from when his clone had been watching his mate.

Itachi saw himself, his hair in disarray, nearly free from its tie, pulled loose by Sakura's wandering hands. He saw how possessively he had her wrapped up in his arms and how he had his cloak pitifully wrapped around her middle, barely covering her at all. He noticed that his own pants were still down to his knees. The thing that stuck out the most to him about himself was the menacing glare he had on his face as he stared down his clone, the murderous intent in his eyes startling him.

Itachi saw Sakura straddling his lap and draped over his body. He saw the line of her neck and shoulder as she nuzzled him in her sleep and the wicked looking mark he had placed on the tender flesh there. He saw how her pants and underwear were gone, her perfectly curved rear exposed, and how her opened shirt concealed only her back. Her gloves remained on her hands, them both too caught up in their pleasure to remove them, and her chest bindings were tangled around her waist.

The last thing he thinks of before he had to break off this train of thought was his mate's reddened opening and how his cock was still seated deeply within her.

Itachi thunked his head against the tree he was leaning against in an attempt to focus in the face of such a perverted vision. He needed to get them to the safety of their nest immediately before he woke her up by nibbling at her exposed neck so he could fuck her again. He made the hand seals for a transportation jutsu behind Sakura's back.

Disappearing in a puff of smoke, they left nothing behind but a forgotten kunai concealed in the grass.

* * *

 _A/N: This story has been fully written out and is completed. There will be no sequels or additions to this story, it's already complete. All of the messages, comments, and reviews asking about additional content all come off as absurdly ungrateful and extraordinarily rude. I appreciate you respecting me and my boundaries and not asking._

 _But to all of the folks who have left comments expressing their love for the story as it is without the needless, rude commentary... THANK YOU SO MUCH! I appreciate every single word of positivity and encouragement so much! All of your love and support mean the universe to me! :')_


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